Norges Bank - Form 8.3 - Arrow Global Group PLC PR Newswire London, March 9 FORM 8.3 PUBLIC OPENING POSITION DISCLOSURE/DEALING DISCLOSURE BY A PERSON WITH INTERESTS
Sugar, cocoa among raw materials seeing outstanding demand
Food inflation could be here to stay amid rising commodity and shipping costs related to the pandemic and global weather patterns.
That s the outlook painted by Rabobank, the Netherlands-based financial services and banking firm, as the S&P GS Ag Index of raw materials rose to its highest level since 2014, having climbed almost 50% since the middle of last year.
Rabobank pointed to four factors driving the gains and which are likely to remain through 2021: weakness in the US dollar; the possible extension of the La Niña annual climate pattern into the US spring planting season; global demand for commodities; and speculative trading as a hedge against inflation.
Posco International Corporation, a subsidiary of South Korea s largest steelmaker, said it plans to expand its capacity to produce bipolar plates used in hydrogen fuel cell systems that power electric vehicles (EVs), according to local reports.
Posco plans to expand its capacity to produce bipolar plates at its Cheonan plant in South Korea to 10,000 tonnes per year by 2027, from 1,400 tonnes at present, in anticipation of rapid growth in global demand. This would be enough for 245,000 fuel cell electric vehicles, the company reportedly said in a statement.
The industrial giant has recently shifted its focus to supplying the growing global EV market. Last month the group s Posco Chemical Company subsidiary said it was investing KRW276bn (US$242m) to expand its production capacity of cathodes, a key component for EV batteries.